tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33952402026-03-09T09:52:24.311+00:00A libertarian returns to Scotland<p> <i>"Freedom and Whisky gang thegither"</i><br> - Robert Burns</p>David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.comBlogger2657125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-91847656881681578672025-02-07T10:02:00.002+00:002025-02-07T10:02:50.220+00:00

Test Feb 2025&nbsp;

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-7928298491201606592022-05-07T08:55:00.003+01:002022-05-07T08:55:34.259+01:00

&nbsp;test

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-22604516343208042712021-02-15T09:28:00.001+00:002021-02-15T09:28:15.426+00:00

St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh behind Morrison Street crane.&nbsp;

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-37383396797624649832021-02-14T14:50:00.072+00:002021-03-13T15:53:44.352+00:00

In the meantime I was still reading the Scotsman and also the rather better Glasgow Herald (as it should still be called). I would visit Scotland at least once a year. The pressure for devolution (or more) was growing. I was sympathetic. Recall how annoyed I'd been when my father had told me that we were moving to London because companies liked to be near government. By now I knew that the

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-8936553008463140452021-02-14T14:13:00.016+00:002021-03-13T15:41:31.908+00:00

I quickly realised that there was something fundamentally wrong with the New Left position and with socialism in general. Soon I started to go into the West End every Saturday and would always have a look round Foyles bookshop. I discovered the Institute of Economic Affairs and read many of their publications. It all made sense. I even joined the Young Conservatives. In 1970 Edward Heath won the

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-70032410688849243952021-02-14T13:26:00.012+00:002021-03-13T15:40:30.984+00:00

I'll start off by giving some personal background which explains how I came to my current political position.My late father came from Cumberland and we have a family tree going back in Cumberland and Westmorland for several hundred years.My mother came from not far away but on the other side of the border in Dumfriesshire.&nbsp;I was born in my mother's home town of Annan and we lived there till

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-46403876165694779502018-05-21T17:34:00.002+01:002018-05-21T17:36:41.956+01:00

The other day I was interviewed by Andy Duncan on the&nbsp;Mises UK&nbsp;website about "Freedom, Whisky, Scotland, &amp; Secession". I am the Scottish spokesman of Mises UK. And&nbsp;here it is. Enjoy!

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-54855158157414253572018-05-18T11:09:00.000+01:002018-05-18T11:10:12.042+01:00

The day after the referendum I was interviewed by Jeff Deist of the Mises Institute. Here is&nbsp;a link to the interview&nbsp;in which we discuss the referendum from a libertarian angle.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-85823070086958725312018-05-18T10:41:00.000+01:002018-05-18T10:41:10.768+01:00

I've used Nikon cameras for over thirty years and am currently considering a new camera purchase. For the time being I'm holding off to see what Nikon brings to the mirrorless market later in the year. But then I read over on&nbsp;Nikon Rumors&nbsp;that Nikon have decided to withdraw from this years National Rifle Association event. On of the top commenters on Nikon Rumors writes: I agree,

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-36554832847458228612018-05-13T16:44:00.000+01:002018-05-13T18:46:56.800+01:00

The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England A fascinating history of the territory that was once neither English nor Scottish but was Britain's wild west. I was born very close to the Debatable Land, in Annan, Dumfriesshire - my mother's home town. My father came from just over the border in Cumbria. I can recall my maternal grandfather telling me about the rescue of the

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-13450361753171763722018-05-01T09:39:00.004+01:002018-05-01T10:36:07.629+01:00

Back in January I was&nbsp;asked by Keir Martland, of&nbsp;Mises UK,&nbsp;to give a talk to a&nbsp;Glasgow University student group. Here are the notes that I used for my speech: Austrian Economics and Libertarianism David Farrer. University of Glasgow 31stJanuary 2018. Quiz: I buy a pair of shoes for £50. How much are they worth? Both parties (and society) benefit otherwise there would be

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-76555063107685953812018-04-27T11:36:00.000+01:002018-04-27T15:49:06.277+01:00

I posted a link to my Monday Airdrie photos and now wish to give some observations on the whole Dankula affair.&nbsp; What was particularly fascinating was the reporting and commentary in the Scottish media. Take for example&nbsp;this piece in the Herald. Haggerty acknowledges that she is "leaning more favourably towards the free speech side" but that "context is everything".&nbsp;She goes

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-70155796381134024662018-04-25T17:02:00.000+01:002018-04-25T17:32:32.718+01:00

Last week I attended an event in Edinburgh. After dinner there was discussion about prisons and their role in society. One of our number suggested that unnecessary drug laws were responsible for many folk ending up in prison. I agreed and also made the point that the state was far too intrusive generally. For example, pub owners should be allowed to decide whether smoking should (or should not)

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-13232175406095964182018-04-25T11:02:00.000+01:002018-04-25T11:02:03.139+01:00

You can see my photographs taken at the Count Dankula sentencing over here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/56701337@N00/sets/72157668143762528

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-5901394135969393292018-04-25T10:32:00.001+01:002018-04-25T11:03:23.374+01:00

I've decided that it's time to restart this blog. The very first post in 2002 started as follows: Welcome to this new blog. The title&nbsp;Freedom and Whisky&nbsp;links the two themes of this blog: libertarianism and Scotland. The libertarianism will, however, sometimes extend beyond events in Scotland and I shall also be covering non-political news of interest to me north of the border.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-77543351618856084642018-04-22T09:43:00.001+01:002018-04-22T09:43:59.137+01:00

Test

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-34965897373106578702015-01-28T18:18:00.002+00:002015-01-28T18:22:51.648+00:00

I wrote this over on the Libertarian Alliance website Nigel gets it. Over the years, opinion polls here show that Scotland is only one or two percent more socialist than England – when the questions are about specific issues rather than about Labour v Conservative. Since the war, only the Tories have won more than 50% of the Scottish vote in a UK general election. Except that it wasn’t really

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-34485420321850741132014-02-02T16:18:00.001+00:002014-02-02T16:29:09.519+00:00

I am qualified as a Chartered Secretary. The very nature of the job means that company secretaries tend to be employed in head offices.The ICSA operates throughout the UK and abroad. I've done an analysis of UK jobs advertised in our latest journal. With Scotland having around 9% of the UK population one might think that the percentage of jobs up here would reflect that. Most months there are

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-70540319778124290052014-02-01T16:33:00.001+00:002014-02-01T16:33:51.957+00:00

I've managed to copy the two comments from e-mail notifications.The first:I doubt the Daily Mail thinks voting for twenty years of socialism is inline with their target readership. Wealthier Nation needs to outline a clear path to a parliament that reflects actual Scottish values which consistently show that on most issues people are not as left wing as our representation suggests.The second:Do

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-5746281959693224232014-02-01T15:34:00.004+00:002014-02-01T15:34:44.798+00:00

I'm very sorry to say that I accidentally deleted two comments that were awaiting approval. Please resubmit. I think there was reference to the Daily Mail and to the future of the Scottish "right".

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-14601386529936396632014-01-26T17:45:00.001+00:002014-01-26T17:45:45.440+00:00

There was a fascinating article from Pete Martin in the Scotsman the other day:With dwindling readerships and financial problems aplenty, you’d think Scotland’s editors would stop at nothing, stoop to anything, to boost circulation. They would bend over for Satan, red hot poker in hand, for an extra sale.Apparently not. There’s one sales ploy to which no Scottish-based title is prepared to sink.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-17524244752938861202014-01-26T17:20:00.000+00:002014-01-26T17:20:18.863+00:00

On the third of January I attended the funeral of David Reid, one of the founders of the Prestwick Airport Aviation Group.Here is an appreciation that was published in the Herald:Enthusiasts come in for much ill-informed flak. However, a sub­stantial number who were inspired by their enthusiasm in the club and sustained by Davie Reid have made significant careers in aviation and other fields and

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-65031336794680408832014-01-24T11:03:00.002+00:002014-01-24T11:11:24.129+00:00

I am please to announce that I've become a supporter of Wealthy Nation, a new Scottish site "in favour of Empowerment, Independence, Economic Liberty and Self Reliance".Here is the introductory article from Michael Fry.Welcome to Wealthy Nation. We are a group of Scots who stand to the right of centre on the political spectrum and who are going to vote Yes to the independence of our country in

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-72447844345904127622013-08-31T20:24:00.000+01:002013-08-31T20:29:18.344+01:00

I was having a look at some old posts on this site and came across this 2003 one about Edinburgh's buses. Note the quote from the Scotsman:It is felt the changes would make the area a much more pleasant shopping environment once trams start running in the capital.Trams running! Good grief!

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-23331944297460664052013-08-28T18:35:00.001+01:002013-08-28T18:35:28.327+01:00

Poor Tony Winters has become a bit of a laughing stock:“I said I thought it was racist that if you come from Edinburgh you can get brown sauce free but people from elsewhere, who like ketchup, have to pay. They just said it’s what they do.We went to another chip shop and the guy was killing himself laughing when we told him. It reeks of racism. Just because we come from the west and tend to like

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